SRK 2022

ABSTRACT
At a time when connectivity enables all parts of society and the economy to benefit from digital services it is vital to have powerful and secure networks. The European Commission sets goals to develop an open and secure 5G ecosystem and to promote European digital autonomy and technological sovereignty by supporting collaboration between new and traditional vendors and a strong approach towards open specifications in the 5G ecosystem. Open RAN creates opportunities for new and traditional providers to support these goals by helping to foster innovation across industries. This increases the potential to innovate and meet the demands for a fast-growing variety of different use cases and applications. Network operators will need to deploy flexible networks with advanced features and services more quickly, more widely and more cost-efficiently, which is crucial to maintain EU competitiveness and technology leadership. This can only be achieved with interoperable, modular and open network architectures that allow competition and innovation. Open RAN significantly accelerates this development and provides the basis for establishing a dynamic and vibrant ecosystem of European players that can deliver innovative and tailored solutions that are secure, resilient and environmentally sustainable.